Mill Creek Marsh, located in Secaucus NJ, is a delightful, little known, refuge in the N.J. Meadowlands. It is named for Mill Creek, a tributary of the Hackensack River which flows through the marsh. The NJ Meadowlands Commission has created a nature trail that winds around and between two impoundments. It is a lovely walk with views of the distant New York Skyline at various points. The site attracts varieties of gulls, shorebirds, and ducks as well as other aquatic wildlife. At low tide, old cedar stumps provide an eerie landscape. The marsh, consisting of about 200 acres, was purchased by the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission in 1996 in order to preserve the marsh and save it from the fate of a huge plan for housing development.. As part of the enhancement activies, old fill was removed which exposed ancient stumps of Atlantic White Ceder. It is believed that one third of the Hackensack Meadowlands were once covered with these trees. In the mid 18th century, the durable and accessible wood was used to build roads and homes and at one point huge sections of the cedar forest were burned because they were considered to be hiding places for pirates. The trees finally died out altogether when a dam was built along the Hackensack River which greatly reduced the flow of fresh water into the swamp and increased the levels of salt water turning the area into a brackish estuary.